Although Ford has placed an end to the life of the Ford Ranger pickup in 2011, the company is increasing production over the next three months to meet up with small pickup truck demand. The demand seems to be spawning from the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program, where owners can trade in their old "clunker" for a new automobile.
Sales wise, Ford sold more than 3,000 Rangers last month, an increase over the same time period in 2008.
More spyshots today from Pickuptrucks. This time it's a couple shots from a 2011 Ford Super Duty cruising through the desert. The next generation Super Duty seems to be looking a whole lot closer to the F-250 Super Chief Concept that debuted several years ago. Noticeable changes include a new grille, re-designed front and rear fenders, change in placement of the side emblems, new front bumper, and what seems to be a power dome hood found on the 2010 Mustang GT.
Have you ever wanted to learn how to weld, or at least get a quick overview of everything that's involved? Let Chris Duke and special guest Brian Karas (who's also a long time member of Truckblog) in the latest episode of MOTORZ TV show you how!
This episode covers everything from what you need, basic setup, safety precautions, right on down to the first weld. Check it out!
Watch and learn How To Weld and be sure to check out this page at the MOTORZ TV website for more information on this episode!
First off, WalMart sucks. I can't stand the store, everything is disorganized, and is constantly filled with old people that can hardly move. Second, McDonalds. Their fast food is alright, grew up on it as a kid with happy meals and such, it's cheap and gets the job done, but the golden arch can never compete with In-N-Out.< /rant off>. The two mega corporations indirectly teamed up to provide drive thru's to customers thanks to a drunk driver in Texas.
The Star Telegram reports that a drunk man drove his car into the WalMart after "erratically in the parking lot, including doing donuts, before crashing through the store’s glass doors". The man then jumped into the bed of a pickup truck outside the store where the pickup truck driver struck 3 or 4 cars in the parking lot trying to get rid of the crazy ass drunkard.
I bet you this guy was on a little more than a bottle of Jack.
Preparing to blaze new trails, the all-new 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is ready for the most challenging desert adventures. But this purpose-built, high-speed off-road truck also is engineered to be versatile enough to take on the everyday commute. “With Raptor, we’re taking the established performance of the F-150 to the next level and proving just how much Ford trucks can do,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president for Global Product Development. “The F-150 SVT Raptor doesn’t just appear to be off-road-ready. It is off-road-ready. It was built with the off-road enthusiast in mind and will give consumers an off-road experience no other vehicle can.”
Pickuptrucks has been busy as usual looking for the latest and the greatest truck photos. This time they've found a spyshot of the 2011 Chevrolet Heavy Duty Duramax Diesel V8. Details about the engine are as follows: “The new Duramax diesels are based on the same engines that have been around since 2001,” said Gary Arvan, a GM diesel powertrain engineering chief. “The 2500 and 3500 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra HD pickups receive the high-power LML motor [replacing the 2007-10 LMM], while the 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty vans receive the lower-rated LGH engine [also replacing the LMM]. Both have iron blocks, aluminum cylinder heads, and their [6.6-liter] bore and stroke are unchanged.”
Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) and FOX Racing Shox are taking consumers where no other OEM has taken them before: off-road in the desert with the internal triple bypass shocks, exclusively available on the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor – an industry-first on a production truck. With 12.1 inches of usable travel in the rear suspension and 11.2 inches in the front, the softly sprung suspension has enough travel to handle the toughest terrain in the desert. Usable travel is what matters – most trucks have seven to eight inches, but are so stiffly sprung that the actual movement is much less.
Mike Harrison’s enthusiasm for V-8 engines is apparent. Harrison, Ford Motor Company’s premium V-8 systems manager, is particularly excited about the availability of the new 6.2-liter V-8 that will power the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. Producing an estimated 400 horsepower and 400 ft.-lb. of torque, Harrison rattles off the new engine’s components and features quickly and easily, pointing them out and explaining them with more than a trace of pride.
Car and Driver have stepped outside of their normal bubble, this time reviewing the International's LoneStar Harley-Davidson Edition semi truck. Equipped with an 18 speed manual transmission, this luxury truck on wheels pulls a 0 to 60 miles per hour time of 20.4 seconds, about enough time to go to In-N-Out burger, order a Double Double, and come back. However this truck packs nearly 2,000 foot pounds of torque...hard to beat that.
Ebay is holding a contest called "The 2009 Motors Master Contest" where users have the chance to win a free trip to the 2009 SEMA Show, Title of Motors Master 2009, or a $2,500 eBay Motors shopping spree. To enter, users must submit a short video showing their favorite automotive project and tell them why eBay should choose them to be the Motors Master. The contest ends September 7th and winners will be announced October 1st.
If you're in the market for a used truck or SUV, then now is the time. According to several reports out on the web, now is the perfect time to purchase a used pickup truck or SUV as owners trade in their "clunkers" for newer vehicles. General Motors spokesman Brian Goebel stated "Trucks tend to be available in more variations than cars. That's because truck buyers have a wider variety of needs than car buyers". Goebel continued, "There's just so many different uses for the truck, both retail and commercial, than with car purchasers".
Despite all of the negative events occurring in Mexico, the 2010 Lincoln Mark LT pickup truck is now only available in Mexico. Lincoln spokesperson Mark Schirmer commented, saying "The Lincoln Mark LT has been Lincoln's best-selling vehicle in Mexico" and "The Mark LT has sold almost 6,000 units in Mexico since its launch in 2005. In the U.S., the Mark LT only accounted for around 5% of total sales on average". Looks like fans of the Mark LT will have to look south to pick up their truck, although personally here at Truckblog, we're not fans.
Rumor on the net is saying that the United States Border Patrol and Department of HOmeland Security are "seriously considering" purchasing at least 10 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor pickup trucks to help patrol the border. The delivery of Fords for government use would not be the first, with the Ford Bronco being a major player in the 1980's. The sources are also stating that the Border Patrol is asking Ford to equip the interiors with work truck interiors, instead of the premium interiors found in the retail version of the pickup truck. We'll keep you posted.
Carscoop has obtained leaked images of the next generation 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. Found in a Japanese marketing brochure, the Land Cruiser is completely restyled from the front end to rear with new tail lamps, bumper, tail gate design, and more. Check out the other photos at Carscoop.
Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) today announced pricing for the new 2010 Nissan Frontier mid-size pickup and Pathfinder and Xterra SUVs, which are on sale now at Nissan retailers nationwide. Each vehicle offers a number of significant enhancements for the new model year. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices* (MSRP) for the 2010 Nissan Frontier start at $17,540 for the Frontier XE King Cab I4 4x2 with manual transmission and $22,290 for the Frontier SE Crew Cab V6 4x2 with manual transmission. There are a total of 13 available Frontier King Cab and 14 available Frontier Crew Cab models. In addition to King Cab and Crew Cab body styles, available configurations include a choice of 4x2 and 4x4, 2.5-liter inline 4-cylinder (King Cab 4x2 only) or 4.0-liter V6 engines, manual or automatic transmissions, regular or long beds (Crew Cab only) and XE, SE, LE and PRO-4X trim levels.
If you are in the market for any turn by turn navigational software, specifically for the iPhone, iGO My Way 2009 North America edition was recently released to the Apple App Store. Priced at $79.99, the iGo My Way 2009 is cheaper than it's competition and offers full 3D maps, voice navigation, and more.
For more information about the iGo My Way 09 iPhone application and the latest mobile phone application information, news, reviews, and more head on over to www.appmodo.com.
It may not be a pickup truck but it's one of the most bad ass vehicles on the road today! In episode 30 of MOTORZ TV, we're showing you how to install The Pipeline cold air intake from Fastlane on a 2010 Chevy Camaro SS. Two words here... bad.. ass.
Are you a fan of the free service called Twitter? Truckblog can be found on there under the name "Trucknews". We couldn't get the actual name "Truckblog" because it was taken already by some guy in "Deutschland, Thüringen" which is somewhere in Germany. Damnit.
